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It's
Good News Year
(12/31/02)
Perhaps you remember the song
from the mid-Sixties that began, "It's good news week, someone
dropped a bomb somewhere, contaminating atmosphere, and blackening the
sky." It went on with a litany of mano a mano horror stories
around the globe. That may be what the Bushies are singing tonight as
they toast in the new year.
Wilds
Too Wooly (12/30/02)
Perhaps we can blame it on El
Nino, which has dumped more rain on the area in just the past few weeks
than it normally does in the six months season-to-date. Or maybe it's
just that there are too many people on the planet and it has caused the
Earth to spin crazily, leaving some people unable to hang on properly.
Especially here in the North State, where it is particularly wild and
wooly, all year 'round.
De-Rusting
My Wings (12/27/02)
Airline pilots with tens of
thousands of flying hours report that they feel rusty after going on
vacation for two weeks. I have three hundred hours, so my cellular
memory is considerably more shallow, and the need for freshening
concomitantly deeper. Indeed, if I don’t go up every week, I’m
particularly suspicious of my flying mind; there is little room for
Oops, I forgot to....
Diversity
to Focus (12/26/02)
This is what and who our country
is about, not just the diversity, but the depth, not the crippled myopia
of slothful, but the expanded consciousness of a resolute global mind.
This is not a paean to patriotism, false or true, but an expression of
excitement about human potential. I have long thought, and now more than
ever, that America is the confluence of the greatness of East and West,
and the birthplace of the future of mankind.
Merry
Ho Ho Ho (12/25/02)
Places like Lancaster and
Palmdale are a speculators paradise, because it’s thought that a new
LAX will be built there. It’s like a squashed cheeseball, long turned
rancid; you drive for eons by strip malls offering every piece of trash
that poor people can almost but not quite afford. And that’s just the
apron to the main disaster, a freeway system that is overloaded with
remarkably patient people. Or maybe they’re just numb.
It
Snowed (12/24/02)
It actually snowed on Thursday,
which is maybe the third such event since I moved here five years ago.
Most of Redding didn't get the white stuff, but Casa Linda is perched at
1100 feet, so in the mid-afternoon, the temperature dropped just a
coupla extra degrees to produce the white stuff. Big honkin' flakes that
at first were just beautiful and then created a coupla inches of slush.
Time
to Go (12/23/02)
It was late in the afternoon
when the man left his message on the answering machine at his lawyer's
office. His call wasn't answered personally because it was a busy time,
being the week before Christmas and everyone was on other calls. But
when they retrieved his message a few minutes later, everything shifted.
He said he was going to kill himself.
The
Maybe Memo (12/20/02)
This email was allegedly
discovered in the trash by a maintenance worker who was subsequently
laid off in another round of budget cuts. It seems to be a communication
to Governor Gray Davis from his chief political advisor Garry South,
though its authenticity could not be confirmed, or even reasonably
inferred.
Elephant
Dung (12/19/02)
Last week, the head of the state
GOP said that any legislator who voted to increase taxes would find
himself facing an immediate recall campaign. This is kinda crazy, since
California faces a $35 billion deficit and even if they sold Hollywood
to Japan they couldn't pay down the whole debt. New or increased taxes
will be required, and the GOP leadership knows it.
Stormin'
Mother (12/18/02)
I took advantage of the relative
clemency to walk down through one of my favorite places of worship,
Tennessee Valley, to the ocean. The Pacific was in frothy tumult, with
waves rising twenty feet pounding themselves onto the beach, their
backwash smashing into successors, creating towers of spume. The beach
was gone, actually, or inundated; to reappear some time when the wave
action quiets itself.
On
the Outs (12/17/02)
Law is no longer the law for
hundreds of thousands of now-questioning worshipers. He leaves behind
chaos in the church -- a good thing, certainly -- and many pedophelic
victims, not a good thing. Regrettably too, he and his ilk have added to
the lexicon the term "priest abuse survivor."
Safe
'n Secure (12/16/02)
The Ahwahnee may or may not be
fire-prone, and the fact that it has survived three-quarters of a
century without a conflagration is proof of nothing. Except that so far
they have handled matters properly, and there was nothing to indicate
that policies had changed or that fire prevention efforts had grown lax.
Book
Covers (12/13/02)
He was stationed in Monterey for
a while, so he knows something about the extraordinary diversity our of
culture. He can't stand Bush, and believes that our military adventurism
is a prescription for disaster; he's talked with his reservist son about
going to Canada. He is also up on education and the environment, the
national debt and other significant issues of the day.
Empty
Lott (12/12/02)
If he does get pushed out, it
will only be for cosmetic reasons; not a single Senate synapse will
shift. Symbolically it would demonstrate some minor degree of
sensitivity, rather than sensibility, and it would be political rather
than societal. But in today's climate, those to the left of the right
will grasp at any straw in the wind.
People
at the Head (12/11/02)
If he'd dumped 'em in a
recycling bin, he might not be in such a pickle, but the DA is
considering criminal charges, and a whole lotta folks have called upon
the once-estimable Bates to resign. Bates says he did the deed and he's
apologized for the act, blaming fatigue. His supporters think he should
have to do public service, as the mayor.
Fragments
(12/10/02)
One of the prosecutors
complained that the defense was "dragging out the body of a dead
girl." Ryder rose from her chair in astonished outrage; hey, even
over-drugged shoplifters have rights. The judge should have tossed the
prosecutress in the pokey for contempt, but didn't. Of course, it was
Southern California, where such conduct is hardly noteworthy.
I'll
Take California
(12/09/02)
There’s a lot of wealth and a
lot of poverty in The Sunshine State. From what I could see in my
travels, a huge number of housing units are being constructed, much of
it on land that would otherwise have been a slimy bog. Once it was
screens, and now it's air conditioners, that make life possible in a
land that the desk clerk at my hotel referred to as Jurassic Park. And
she likes it.
Doors
to Sunshine (12/06/02)
There had been a gorgeous
sunrise that morning, a bright orange orb climbing between layers of
clouds, but the rest of the day had been overcast, with showers
pockmarking the central part of The Sunshine State. It was still warm
and humid that evening, though cooling ever so slightly under a gentle
westerly flow, not quite energetic enough to be called a breeze.
...Through
Leaves, Over Bridges
(12/05/02)
Linda had been distancing
herself from me, not without reason, and that was surely not a good
thing. She said I had too short a fuse. What, I screamed...no I didn’t.
I said she was right, and I made up my mind that it should be longer.
And I made it longer. I haven’t gotten seriously angry since. At least
not toward her; some drivers have not escaped my wrath, though
unbeknownst to them.
Bits
& Pieces (12/04/02)
Advertising has truly lost
contact with reality. Consider a full-page pitch in a weekly syndicated
Sunday newspaper insert: "The love affair with Thermacare continues
as people kiss pain goodbye." Sure, it's nice to have relief from
pain, and we'll presume that their claims are true, but a love affair?
Sounds like a tired copywriter and absent supervision from the client.
Morse,
Just Morse (12/03/02)
Perhaps it was that John Thaw,
who plays Morse, decided he'd had enough. (Kinda like how Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle got tired of Sherlock Holmes and killed him off, though he
was subsequently revived at the request of Queen Victoria.) Thaw is a
fine actor, and brings to the Morse character a consistency-cum-nuance
that any mystery afficionado or just plain viewer has to respect, if not
thoroughly enjoy.
Coyote
Kill (12/02/02)
Usually it's in the middle of
the night, when people are in their beds the dark forces of nature play
out their hidden schemes. What happens is that a pack of coyotes trap an
animal, and then start howling. Sometimes, the victim gets a chance to
scream for its life, briefly, then the coyotes howl again during the
kill.
Why
We Give Thanks
(11/28/02)
Still, I can't imagine that the
Pilgrims started something that could end this badly. Our destiny may be
manifest, but no one said the road was straight. Rather, I think matters
will get worse, dramatically worse, over the next coupla years. And
then, from amidst the depravity and chaos, fueled by desperation and the
special character of our great country, we will somehow find our way
back to the path.
Cenla
of the Bayou (11/27/02)
I had gone to shoot a whole slew
of on-camera pieces for some productions on collaborative law. The
reason for the location is that my new and good friend Ross Foote sits
on the bench there. As his daddy did. There's a lotta tradition in
Alexandria. Some might think too much, with the obverse being the
implication of too little progress, but that wouldn't be entirely fair.
Mindless
Miss (11/26/02)
Throw in raw meat -- and that's
what these Miss contests are all about -- and you're likely to generate
some carnivorous behavior. Which is what happened. A reporter wrote an
article in a local Nigerian paper wondering if Islam founder Muhammed
might not have approved of the pageant and maybe even thought to marry
one of the contestants.
Clackin'
Constipation (11/25/02)
The fact is that writing is
therapy for me. I get constipated if I can’t clack. Oh sure, there are
the old quill-'n-parchment, but I can’t write as quickly as I can
type, not nearly, plus my hand cramps quickly. Surely I shouldn’t have
to endure two long days of traveling without a computer. I mean, I would
if I had to, for Linda, but....
Fall...Yum
(11/22/02)
Fall is beautiful here in the
North State, as it probably is in most places. Like spring, it is a
gracious bumper between the longer, more extreme seasons, and both are
much more the choice if one could choose. Sadly, they are but short
respites between too cold and much too hot. But we love 'em while they
last.
Bits
& Pieces
(11/21/02)
The media went wild world-wide,
wondering about what might have possessed the self-styled King-of-Pop to
pull such a stunt. Kinda late to begin wondering about Jackson. If you
saw a picture of him last week when he was testifying in court, it's
clear that fruitcake is not just a holiday offering.
Whitemail
(11/20/02)
Then came the diversity
movement, and women and peopleofcolor were in such demand that no-talent
stutterers were hauled off the street if they had breasts, a dark tan,
or a missing limb. After a while, television newscasts featured more
colors than a Trinitron explosion, all garbled and prosthetic, and
having little to do with the news. White males needed not apply.
Absent
Ain't Current
(11/19/02)
Back in the old days, when life
moved a lot slower, it might have made sense for people who weren't
going to be in their home district on Election Day to have a chance to
have their voice heard. But nowadays, there are two big reasons, both
electronic, why people should wait until the last moment to vote.
Really
Cookin' (11/18/02)
Also, for the record, not being
the gourmet cook that she is, I would have plunked down a few hunnert --
maybe even six or seven -- and had a stove that would have been more
than adequate for my needs. Not that I hadn't been lobbying for a new
stove, but the one we've been using came with the house, and is a model
that first came out around the time Benjamin Franklin was flying kites
in thunderstorms.
Fone
Fleecing (11/15/02)
The actual complaints were
mostly about false advertising and using the telephone to harass
customers. The companies were also accused of using tricky billing
systems to further bilk their customers. They were forced to forgive
$500 million in customer bills, return all uncashed checks, and pay the
feds a $5 million fine. In addition to ending their telephone-based
scam.
Heroes
of Our Own Time
(11/14/02)
Everyone would like to prevent
forest fires, murders, or abortions, so we should be able to find
solutions. Yet over-the-edge enviros refuse to endorse low-brush
clearing fires, gun-nuts refuse to disarm snipers, and born-agains
refuse to support birth control education to prevent unwanted
pregnancies.
Bits
& Pieces (11/13/02)
The commission announces its
inspections three months in advance, and allows hospitals to choose the
patient files to be examined. Further, while the commission reported
only a dozen fatalities from iatrogenic infections since 1995, the Trib
found about 75,000 such deaths in just one year. Said the commission
president, "We have missed things."
A
Class Act (11/12/02)
A powerhouse of a political
figure, a mother of five successful children, Nancy could have been
imperious and difficult to work with, but quite the contrary, she was
attentive, generous, and dedicated to getting it right. She knew she was
working with professionals, but she had her own opinions.
First
Rain (11/11/02)
Water streamed over the side of
the gutters, so when the downpour poured down less, I donned my
foul-weather gear and pulled the ten-foot ladder from behind the storage
shed. Carefully positioning it in the soddening ground next to the drain
spout, I climbed skyward with a stick. A little poke and the leaves
succumbed to the pressure of the pounds of water behind them. A virtual
tsunami flushed south onto a patch of cement below.
Bits
& Pieces (11/08/02)
Harvey Pitt may be gone, but not
yet William Webster, who was named to lead the federal oversight of
corporate crookedness. It should be familiar territory for him, if he
stays. Webster has been accused of firing an accounting firm which was
auditing the company of which he was a director. They were dumped
because they warned him of some, er, hem discrepancies. Webster said he
couldn't recall being so informed before he fired them.
Stumbling
over Molière
(11/07/02)
I was trying to remember a with-apologies-to
Molière line by a Wall Street columnist, and it probably had to do with
economists. Off I went huntin' and found a "with the guts..."
quote about lawyers and judges, and another about priests, but neither
was associated with the brilliant French écrivant. Not that it
isn't out there; it just ain't here.
There's
Always Next Time
(11/06/02)
At least there was a donkey in
the White House in 1994, so there was some balance. Last night, the news
was bad from the get-go, with a highly-vulnerable Jeb Bush retaining his
gubernatorial post in Florida because his opponent was a remarkably
inept wannabe with money but no brains. Then followed the asses getting
kicked out of SenateLand, delivering the full Congress to the elephants.
Criminal
Contempt (11/05/02)
John Petrucelli -- also known as
Johnny Boy and Fat Face -- was 25 at the time he stabbed a 17-year-old,
in an apparent attempt to emulate his father's murderous lifestyle. The
mother of his victim confronted the killer two years after the murder
and promised justice. "I said to him, 'If it takes my last breath,
I will get you,'" she recounted outside court after the verdict.
"Well, Johnny Boy, I got you."
Off
the Road Again
(11/04/02)
The flight was over two hours,
but the refreshments consisted only of a slice of pound cake, and the
perfunctory beverages. Cocktails and wine, once three dollars, are now
five bucks a pop, and the little bottles are no bigger. You need to
bring your own victuals, because there are no decent restaurants in the
terminals any more; just rows of fast-food puke-oriums, and over-priced
coffee bars.
Collaboratin'
(11/01/02)
Collaboration is a really big
deal. It’s a sea change in social conduct. In collaborative family
law, instead of lawyers becoming gladiators, as they had been taught to
do in law school, they sit down together with their clients and the four
people figure out what is the best settlement of the divorcing couple’s
affairs.
Leaving
the Kids (10/31/02)
I won't worry about the
critters. Buster will be seen to by our caring neighbor, a practice
that's been going on for ten years. The kitty-cats? They're not as
sociable; in fact, she probably won't see them. But they'll do the
feline thang, out and about, and will sashay up to us when we've been
home again long enough to forget to miss them.
Bits
& Pieces (10/30/02)
Coming out of the tragedy of the
Wellstone story last week, one of their bimbettes got all giggly over
the story of a couple of deer breaking through the window of McDonald's.
Not very funny to begin with, particularly to the people who were
injured. And to then make a joke about "a meal for a buck"
somehow didn't sound fitting right after reporting that the conscience
of the Senate and seven others had died in a plane crash.
Securing
Mott Airport (10/29/02)
The two Dunsmuir security aces
have filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff, claiming the raid was
a vendetta because they'd criticized him in the past. They say their
civil rights were violated. They claim they had authority from the
Dunsmuir city council to protect the airport, and that the sheriff is
just getting back at them having canceled its protection contract with
him.
Election
Day Registration
(10/28/02)
It's already done in six other
states and has increased voter turnout significantly, without seeing any
increase in fraud. The concern among the incumbent pols is that they
could be swept out of office by a last-minute tide of unhappy balloters,
whereas now they feel relatively safe in the hands of the diminishing
electorate that has to be registered at least 15 days prior to the
election.
Privacy
vs. Security?
(10/25/02)
The sniper team, through
messages left at the scene and phone calls to police and priests, seems
to have been trying to be caught. Indeed, if it weren’t for their
persistence, it’s questionable whether they might not have
assassinated another ten people before they were stumbled upon by the
police.
Titanic
Struggle (10/24/02)
I would like to think that we
are here for a purpose -- a good purpose -- and are not merely to run
around like headless chickens, as a perverse diversion for some deistic
chess players who get off on chaos, pain, and blood. I would like to
think that we have within us the ability to straighten out our lives, to
end the obscenity of violence, ignorance, and general sinfulness.
Random-Schmandom
(10/23/02)
I can kinda understand how some
perve would get his jollies passing the metal detector around my cute
wife, but I gotta think that the only reason for wanding me is because I
likely look easily annoy-able. And really, why would anyone take such a
job except to irritate people? They probably didn't past the test for
meter maid, who, it is said, eat their young.
Hapax
Legomena (10/22/02)
An example of one of the obscure
words (or phrase) that I wouldn't likely use but am herein is hapax
legomenon* which is defined as "A word or form that has only
one recorded use." An example of the phrase was from Linda Tripp
requoted by William Safire when she referred to Bill Clinton as a "schwonk."
I haven't a clue what the word means, although I would hazard a guess
that it might be a conjunction of schmuck and wonk.
It's
a Crime (10/21/02)
Turns out Matthew Dowdy was lying, though his
motive was unclear, though there was speculation that he might have been
going after a share of the $500,000 reward. He faces a maximum penalty
of only six months in jail. He is the second person to mislead the
police. A fast-food worker who wanted the day off called in a false
report during the second week of the investigation.
Aging,
Not Gracefully
(10/18/02)
It wouldn’t have meant much, of course, if
people didn’t get hot water or the lights didn’t work, but under his
aegis, they had it all. This venerable resort hotel sits on the oldest
golf course west of the Mississippi in a community that venerates golf
-- there are 23 golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula -- but at least
on the lodging side, they seem to have forgotten the meaning and purpose
of old-fashioned service.
Dumb-Da-Dumb-Dumb
(10/17/02)
There's a certain irony in
comparing the Bush administrations, when you consider how Machiavellian
was the father, and what a dummy -- in the Charlie McCarthy sense -- was
his vice president. Now we have the dummy in the top post, and his
manipulator is the Machiavellian veep. Not to slander The Great Prince,
who was a brilliant mind and didn't need a dim-witted foible through
whom to practice his political machinations.
Domestic
Terrorism (10/16/02)
The first response of the White
House, underscoring the venality of these morally-bankrupt deviants, was
the tired mantra that we don't need new laws, just to enforce the ones
already on the books. A few hours later, perhaps jolted by a re-reading
of the political tea leaves, they announced "We have asked the ATF
to have their experts look into and explore the issues involved to
determine if this would be an effective crime-fighting tool."
Here
Come Duh Flood
(10/15/02)
Maybe it was the plastic water
bottle lying in the parking lot that tipped me off. Time for a flood, I
said to myself. You can't say something like that out loud here in the
wilds of the North State. People would think you were a terrorist from
the Middle East, or from God, and planning to blow up the Shasta Dam.
May they all be hunkered down in their basements when the time comes.
Put
Saddam on Hold
(10/14/02)
The bombings in Bali make it
abundantly clear that Iraq is not the problem. We have the technology to
track these killers, and we have the resources to bribe and coerce those
who would look the other way than ours. We should go after the
terrorists, wherever they are, stomping the governments that protect
them. Iraq can wait. We cannot play games with Saddam when fanatical
terrorists are striking around the world at will.
Hi-Ho,
FoHi (10/11/02)
There were a lot of happy
people. Occasional shrieks of delight cut through the crowd re-uning for
the 40th anniversary of their graduation from high school.
For some, it was the first time in four decades that they'd seen their
classmates. You could see on the faces how so many of them had enjoyed
that time so long ago, when life made a lot more sense.
Perish
duh Tought (10/10/02)
Au jus has been stumping food
servers for a long time. At a prime rib restaurant in Chicago 25 years
ago, a waitress asked if I wanted some au jus too. She was so
pretty, I had to say yes. But what about the food chain execs, and the
advertising people, and the production staff. Did none of them take
French, or eat in a quality dining establishment, that they might learn
the truth?
Sending
a Message (10/09/02)
I'll sign on to the concept, I
said, so long as we can come up with a good carrot, too. Maybe we should
distribute a half-billion notebook computers with Internet connections
to young people throughout the Moslem world. Let people see for
themselves that we are better than we are bad, that they have been fed a
crock of lies. Maybe we can start a revolution against the mullahs.
Good
Bureaucrats (10/08/02)
You can tell how topsy-turvy has
become the world when the star performers are the people behind the
counter at the California Department of Motor Vehicles and those serving
at a local Social Security office. Both operations seem to run very
smoothly, the folks treat their clients courteously, and the places are
clean. Indeed, the service I received was so good that I would recommend
that local retails should take a lesson. My, how times have changed.
Irreliable
Untelligence (10/07/02)
Ya gotta think with names like that, they
should have been on everybody's watch list, so when The Almighty
Ashcroft trumpeted the case as "a textbook example" of
cooperation with the state and locals in the waronterrorism, ya gotta
wonder whose textbook. First of all, a third of the chargees weren't
caught. Second, these were people who were planning to go to Afghanistan
to fight against U.S. forces, which may show zeal but not strategic
brilliance.
Falling
for Autumn (10/04/02)
I know the weather has broken when I can push
my shorts to the back of the shelf. From June through August, wearing
slacks is just too much in the local heat. And I hate shorts. My
religion says that if god had wanted us to wear shorts, he would have
given us shorter legs. My objection is that I can't walk where I want to
with shorts, because there is poison oak everywhere, salivating at the
sight of my unprotected gams.
The
Leaky Dinghy (10/03/02)
For the longest time, I've been
sailing along in a leaky dinghy with the name "Hope" fading
from the stern. If I weren't thinking of jumping ship, I might get
someone to scrape off the last remaining flakes of paint, and
re-christen the craft "Wistfulness." Because hope is sailing
away on a sullen tide, and I'm left ruing what might have been;
particularly the extraordinary potential of those beings we call human.
In
the News... (10/02/02)
A coupla dusty reports have been brought to
light that indicate that our government handed over biological agents --
including anthrax, botulism, and West Nile virus -- to Iraq. Such irony,
n'est-ce pas? According to the reports, the decision to send to our
now-mortal enemies these potential weapons of our own destruction were
considered naive (at best) at the time, and but was justified because
Iraq was fighting Iran at the time, and we hated them more.
Bits
& Pieces (10/01/02)
Back in 1988 an inspector at a
nuclear plant in Ohio reported that there was a problem of leakage and
corrosion around the containment vessel. He said that the core issue was
the plant culture, where the management ignored the craft workers. He
was told to change his report. He refused and resigned instead. Fourteen
years later, the reactor
vessel had been eaten away to the point of nearly rupturing. Evidence
was in plain sight for years. No one did anything about it.
Black
Byrd (9/30/02)
Then, however, a passenger
complained that she and her child were afraid to fly with Byrd on the
plane, apparently as a result of his encounter with wand-er, so the
pilot (also black) asked the Sheriff-Coroner of Siskiyou County,
California, to get off the plane. Which he did, without any apparent
disruption; he then drove two hours to the Sacramento airport to
continue his travels. Commented his campaign manager, "They didn't
tell him to get to the back of
the bus. They told him to get off."
Pointy,
Not Sharp (9/27/02)
Did anyone else happen to notice
that it was the French who went into rescue more than a hundred American
children from danger zones in the Ivory Coast? The U.S. military arrived
on the scene hours later. Not that it would necessarily have made a
difference to the safety of the children, but in fact, the French did
the rescuing. And I gotta wonder why with all our military might -- what
with us being the global policeman ready to stomp any third-world nation
who would sass us -- why we didn't get to the scene sooner.
Flying
Off the Rust (9/26/02)
This past week, I made two
flights. One was a trip on my own to Santa Rosa, which takes four hours
to reach by car and one by plane. The second was a flight to Marin to
connect with a lawyer from Wisconsin who wanted to meet with Linda. We
were back and forth in less than three hours of flying time; driving
would have taken eight. Both trips were for business in IRS terms; both
were a pleasure to fly. Gotta stay proficient.
Silence
Isn't Golden (9/25/02)
If people buy the Bush bluster
on November Fifth, this country will have illustrated the problem of
what happens when an electorate is politically and intellectually
illiterate. The grotesquery of the Bush-Lite posture -- the cowboy so
tough he doesn't need any friends -- is not only shameful and
destructive it is dangerous and scary. From the environment to basic
civil rights, the very heart of our nation is under siege by an
executive oligarchy of unbalanced, immoralists who threaten the very
survival of our society.
Child
Welfare (9/24/02)
Beyond despairing the
circumstances that brought these two regrettable examples of homo
excretia to our attention, we might think about how we might reach
their confreres and apers, and get through to them with a message that
will inhibit their conduct before they go public.
Bits
& Pieces (9/23/02)
Also in the Washington courts
system, the state supremes ruled that photographing or videotaping up a
woman's skirt in public doesn't violate a state voyeurism law. This was
a unanimous ruling. They said the law only protects people where they
have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The state had argued that
people reasonably expected to have privacy under their clothes. It was
not reported what was under the judges' black robes.
Before
the Fall (9/20/02)
The degree of narcissism was
kinda scary. First of all that they were so young, and worried about
aging. Second that they had the money and would spend it erasing
wrinkles. And third, they seemed not to object to showing themselves as
so remarkably shallow. I suppose that's part of the shallowness. Like
the gorgeous girl-'n-guy in Annie Hall who explained that they
were able to get along so well because they were so superficial.
Loafin'
(9/19/02)
Then, somehow, like the swallows
finding San Juan Capistrano, at age twenty, these girls suddenly looked
like fifty. One wag suggested that it was simply part of the natural
life cycle of the two-titted, back-flopped, twig-spreader; a ubiquitous
lower-end breed found plentifully throughout the southern states, and in
most other loci of untended rurality.
Side-Splitting
Stasis (9/18/02)
My dear friends Moe and Larry
are convinced that my association with them is converting me to
conservatism, and the fact is that I am shedding some of my old liberal
thinking. No, not all liberal ideas are bad. In fact, virtually all of
them have their heart in the right place; it's their implementation that
causes the problems. And in truth, guys, most of the problems were
caused in negotiations with ridiculous right-wingers who forced
compromises that watered down the solution to marginal effectiveness.
Bits
& Pieces (9/17/02)
Gary Copeland, the candidate of
the 98,000 member Libertarian Party, lost his endorsement over the
weekend. The party big-wigs weren't happy that Copeland -- a Druid, but
that wasn't a factor -- spat upon a radio talk show host. Not that if he
hadn't spat he would have been a good governor, but now we'll never
know. The radio guy's crime? He turned off the candidate's microphone.
He's
Baaack (9/16/02)
I had called a half-hour earlier
for the results of the lab tests, but had been told that they weren't in
yet; I could try again the next morning after eleven, or maybe call back
in two hours. I sure wouldn't like a job like that -- dealing with
people with a real reason to feel terribly concerned. In this case, to
have no news wasn't as bad as having bad news, but it surely wasn't good
news.
The
Silence of Sounds
(9/13/02)
It used to be that flipping
someone off meant something. But in this fast-paced ever-changing world,
the gesture has lost much of its meaning. Oh, not in polite society, of
course, but certainly in the out-'n-about. And
no, money doesn't mean manners, by any means.
Kitty-Comm
(9/12/02)
I sit forward on the edge of my
desk chair as I type. Most of the seat is taken by Howard and Blue, who
are purring up a storm in advance of a late morning nap. These cats purr
very loudly. The Lovely Linda -- their pseudo-mom -- opines that any
animal rescued from the humane society knows it got out with it's life.
It mighta been by just hours, or certainly days. Hence, they are very
grateful.
Reflections
from the Mount
(9/11/02)
Shortly after midnight on
September 10th, I began my 53rd circuit 'round Ole
Sol. As momentous as was that moment, I slept through it. If my
calculations are correct, I've now orbited some 30,370,080,000 miles and
spun some 474,825,000 more. We be flying, dude. Other like celebrants of
this date include Arnold Palmer, and once included Roger Maris and
Nikita Khrushchev.
Iraqi
Irony (9/10/02)
For those of us who hold the
presumption that this insane saber-rattling over Iraq is not about true
insanity but rather is about political agendas and egos -- and that
presumption may require a stretch -- there may be some comfort in the
fact that there is an obvious and easy way out of this mess.
You
Don't Look Blue-ish
(9/09/02)
My stepson-in-law is an American
citizen from Jordan. Linda and I have advised him that in addition to
using his American name, he lose his Middle Eastern accent. Not that we
don't find it charming. Not that we think he should stop teaching his
young sons Arabic. But out in the real world today, if there were
another attack pinned on young Arabic-looking men associated with known
terrorists, we suggest that it would be a safer thing if he spoke
American as though he were locally-grown.
Poli-Trips
(9/06/02)
When his base of petrified
primitives learned that their boy signed a pledge to sign a Gay Pride
Day proclamation, if he were elected, they went, to use the vernacular,
ballistic. Simon's campaign people quickly "explained" that
some minor aide had filled out the questionnaire and signed Simon's name
to it, all without checking with the candidate. I suppose it could have
happened that way...er-hem, could have...but that's kinda like Simon
admitting that he hired a bunch of idiots to make mistakes for me.
Home-Work
(9/05/02)
One of the repair jobs I needed
to do on myself when I grew up was to learn how to repair things. As in
fixing things around the house and in the yard. While I had done chores
like shoveling snow and mowing lawns, I never learned about basic home
maintenance, or what to do when pipes or wires or boards needed
replacement. Normally, this would have been the province of the pater,
but mine, who worked hard at being a shrink, plus he had back problems,
hired people to take care of that kinda thing.
The
Wuss Contagion
(9/04/02)
The other day this line popped
into my head: Redding is a toxic wuss site. Where the phrase came from,
I don't know. It was less a function of thinking about the city in those
terms, and more of an assemblage of sounds that suddenly spoke in the
mind's ear. What with the mercury heading toward 113 that afternoon,
this place felt toxic; hence the association. The wuss part reflects my
growing despair with a community reluctant to adopt higher standards.
Not
Selling Out (9/03/02)
After dinner, sitting out on the
porch, watching the lights of San Francisco twinkle in the distance, I
asked if they thought they might have kept their social values had they
gone a more lucrative route. No way, I was told. It got me thinking
about whether I would have the values I do today if I had stayed at ABC
News. I know that I would have been making a year now what it will cost
them for their son's college education, but I don't know that I would
have kept my socio-political edge.
Shelter
Cove (9/02/02)
There are plenty of
reasons to learn how to fly, and one of them I only discovered this
summer. It is the approach to runway 12 -- we pilots pronounce that
one-two -- at Shelter Cove. The airfield there sits on a delicious green
plateau that noses into the Pacific, roughly half-way between Mendocino
and Eureka. The 3400-foot runway is surrounded by a nine-hole golf
course and a handful of bed-'n-breakfasts, motels, and food-eries. It is
the perfect escape, especially for people who live in the Northern
Sacramento Valley, where summer temperatures climb past a 110.
All's
Not Evil (8/30/02)
I don't believe in evil. I
think, rather, that many people are confused, many are desperate, and
many have lost hope. For too long, too many people have gone along to
get along, coughing up agreement that the emperor is snazzily garbed.
Our collective memory of honor, decency, integrity, morality,
compassion, humanity, quality, and purpose has faded. It won't disappear
until we're all dead, but then it would be too late.
The
Devil You Know
(8/29/02)
California Republican
gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon has once-again performed cosmetic
surgery on his funeral. For those not paying attention to California
politics, the Simon campaign announced last week that they had decided
to eliminate 34 positions to save $1.5 million to buy more television
time. You might feel sorry for the guy if he'd done anything right, but
it's been a mess from the get-go.
Triple
Play (8/28/02)
With polls already showing
public support for the sport in the crapper, the owners and players are
planning to insult the remaining few in the figurative stands by wiping
out the end of the season. Even if they don't strike, even if the strike
is a little one, these yahoos -- and both are reprehensible in their
greedy culpability -- are gonna lose more of their fan base. Maybe they
think it doesn't matter.
Not
Caesar's Wife (8/27/02)
She further exploded credulity
when she announced that when she goes to The Hill to lobby, "Staff
members are pretty junior and may or may not know who I am."
Puh-leeze, they're gonna send in some putz who's not gonna know he's
talkin' to the wife of the Senate's top dog? The lowest volunteer sent
for coffee is gonna know who she is and why's she there, and it ain't a
social call.
Nature's
a Real Mother (8/26/02)
We hear the coyotes. They hunt
in packs, and the last sounds you hear before they howl are the death
cries of their kill. Buster likes to go out on the deck and holler back
at 'em, and judging from his expression, he seems to be saying he's
sorry he couldn't make the party.
'Nother
Peak Experience
(8/23/02)
My pal Rich and I took off from
Benton Airpark and I poked the nose of the Skyhawk upward, planning to
find some clear air at some point up the ladder. The trim was set for a
500-feet/minute climb; not fast, but it was an efficient use of fuel. A
slow, deliberate climb was kinda what the day called for, and our
obeisance was rewarded with a stunning view as Mt. Shasta revealed over
the top of the smoke layer.
Reparations Schmeparations
(8/22/02)
A demonstration in Washington, D.C. on Saturday by a few thousand blacks illuminated just how far 'round the bend the diversity train has pulled. The crowd called for the federal government to pay reparations for the slavery and decades of discrimination against their predecessors. The demonstrators want the money to come to them, of course; they think that they earned it through the suffering of their forebears.
Corrupt
with Power (8/21/02)
While I think it's true that in
some cases, power will corrupt an individual, I go more with the notion
that some corrupt people are drawn to power. That it is the pathology of
certain damaged minds -- they thrive on control for its own sake.
Perhaps they are afraid of losing what they have, or they don't think
that they have enough. Something about them is perverted, and they seek
power to leverage their position.
Easily
Distracted (8/20/02)
They are so anxious to get out,
they are literally standing atop each other as I edge the door open.
Then there's this blur as they tear out into the bedroom and the
hallway. This is followed by a brief stop to contemplate the new
freedom, and moments later, the two are chowing down noisily on their
kibble. They sound like they've not eaten in days, although the litter
box would attest otherwise.
Active
Matrix Community
(8/19/02)
We did it with our silence.
There were people around the sheriff who knew he was a bad man, but none
told the FBI. And there's no way the high school killer suddenly decided
-- without a history -- to start shooting people; there had to be
indications in the preceding dozen years or so that this boy was in
trouble, signs that were either misread or ignored.
Bits
& Pieces (8/16/02)
Majority Leader Dick Armey got a
bill through the Lower Chamber than would prohibit the program. What
many found irksome -- we're being polite, now -- was that General John
and his loonies took this PR stunt and brought it home, by suggesting
that utility meter-readers and postal carriers get into the act. The
Post Office said No-way, and private industry virtually scoffed at the
notion. Who wants their service and delivery people to be viewed as
spies?
Somber
Numbers (8/15/02)
Peter-Tom-'n-Dan were somber and
all tight-wrapped in the flag. They talked incessantly about how good
the president looked and they somberly cheer-leaded the waronterrorism.
But as they had for twenty years, they failed to keep us well informed
about what was really going on -- e.g, the corruption of politics, the
crumbling of our corporate edifice, and the disasters in education,
health care, and the environment.
Observations (8/14/02)
Understand that my requests were
to people I don't know and who haven't a clue who I am, but one of them
signed off "Have a Great Day!!!!!" and the other "Until
we speak again...stay blessed and unstressed..." Gets yer blood
flowin', doesn't it, all that ambient excitement, live and in color,
though neither. I wonder how long it takes these people to pull of their
masks at night.
All
God's Critters
(8/13/02)
I tried to swat him several
times and only managed to sting my knuckles. Being in a generous mood, I
suddenly wondered if he might be more than just a fly; David Hedison
returns. But I didn't really think that it might be a person. Rather, I
thought that it might just be a fly. Did
I really feel it was my role to send him into the fly hereafter?
"Coloring
the News"
(8/12/02)
McGowan's indictment of the
major media is not as harsh as it is thorough. He illuminates both
incidents and policies that have led to mis-educating the general
public. He does give them their due for errata and retractions, though,
he notes, such corrections usually came late and in the back of the
paper, while the knee-jerk charges were headlined on page one. That's
always the way it is.
Items
(8/09/02)
Despite drawing a salary of
$131,000, she got the California Highway Patrol to chauffeur her hither
and yon on some 200 trips over two years, at a cost of over $75,000. Not
a big deal in the overall scheme of things, especially when it comes to
self-directed largesse in government, but it doesn't look good at a time
when California faces a $25 billion deficit.
From
the Horse's...
(8/08/02)
It's kinda strange that the
Iraqi dictator would feel a need to reassure his people. Yes, it would
be the people who would suffer the brunt of the attack, just like they
did during the first Gulf War. But there doesn't seem to be any
significant local opposition to Saddam, organized or otherwise, so why
should he bother? Perhaps it's just an opportunity to rally the Arab
world to his side while castigating Washington.
Bits
& Pieces (8/07/02)
The 31-year-old got out, but her
subsequent conflagration burned 467,000 acres, destroyed 323 homes, and
forced 30,000 people to evacuate. Many of those burned-out were furious
with the federal prosecutor who declined to press charges. The uncharged
woman was unavailable for comment after his announcement; she was
winging her way to New York City for a morning television show
appearance.
Making
Babies (8/06/02)
There's a case in the Bay Area
where a fertility clinic mixed up the test tubes in a couple of
artificial inseminations, and a woman(1) wound up having a son that was
supposed to have been born by another woman(2). In this case, a
couple(2) had used the husband's sperm to fertilize a donor egg, but it
was implanted into another woman(1). That woman(1) bore the child, a boy
now 16 months, and the sperm's mother(2) -- it does get complicated --
wants him "back."
Minor
Problems
(8/05/02)
The problem for news
organizations was that they don't like to use the names of sexual
assault victims. The idea is to protect the victim from excess public
scrutiny, but in this case it was really a non-issue, and one over which
there has been far too much hand-wringing. The massive publicity
contributed to the end of the girls' abduction, and likely saved their
lives. Case-o closed-o.
Symbol
Simon (8/03/02)
The gubernatorial race was
Simon's to lose, and he's likely to do just that, and by a margin that
will make Lungren feel better. Worse for Republicans, Simon's collapse
may actually hurt other GOP candidacies around the country, and help
shift the House to donkey control. It's not over yet, of course.
Depth
of Depravity (8/02/02)
There are places you don't
travel to at night, we all know that, and most people know that there
are some places that you don't go to during the day. No, I'm not talking
about Redding, but about some parts of some cities where you dasn't go
if you are different. And in the worst of those places, it's not safe to
go even if you're a local.
Clinton's
Cross (8/01/02)
Whenever some of us hear his
name -- let alone see him on the public stage again -- there's a feeling
of disgust. He disgraced the office of President of the United States.
He got away with perjury and obstruction of justice because enough
people viewed him as just smarmy and weak, rather than a criminal. His
escape doesn't give him license to speak up and remind us of his squalid
tenure.
Exploitation
of Justice (7/31/02)
A case in point was filed by a
New York man against four fast food chains. The 56-year-old maintenance
worker claims that his obesity, heart disease and diabetes are due to
their selling him the crap he ate that made him that way. He said they
failed to adequately label their products for the inherent dangers in
the predominantly salt-'n-grease menu.
Commune,
Y'All (7/30/02)
Santa Clara County, California
has been told that starting with the fall election, they have to provide
ballots in Tagalog so that Filipino-Americans could have an easier time
of understanding the election process. The ballots are already available
in Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese. Alameda County, which includes the
city of Oakland, is wondering if they might not have to produce ballots
in Dari and Punjabi.
Target
Baghdad (7/29/02)
Considering the lack of
character of this administration -- so many are two-faced oleaginous
crooks who are only interested in their political future ala Bush -- an
attack on this sovereign if mis-guided nation 6,210 miles away seems
inevitable. I thought invadin' was something America frowned upon, at
least theoretically. Now it's talked about as if they were selecting the
site of the next Superbowl.
Nothing
on Television (7/26/02)
I was actually surprised how bad
the news is, not only from a content standpoint, but production as well.
The vapidity of the anchors is breath-taking. These people wouldn't know
a news story if it bit 'em in the keyboard. And they look intelligent --
okay, that's stretching the point too far -- they look almost awake,
compared to the sports and weather yahoos who are hyperventilating
cretins with a Prozac smile. Watch all ya want, but you won't have a
clue about what's going on in the world.
Pitt
Stop (7/25/02)
Also mismanaging his public
image -- imagine someone trying to run downstairs backwards -- is Harvey
Pitt, the head of the SEC. A corporate lawyer, he used to represent some
of the firms now plagued by scandal. In the face of public calls for his
resignation, from higher-ups in both parties, Pitt made flaming new
headlines that have even his supporters shaking their heads.
Honorable
Men (7/24/02)
The Lovely Linda asked the other
morning if every major company weren't guilty of some sorta accountin'
shenanigans, what with all the headlines about one company after another
being named as being under investigation by the SEC or the FBI or some
other authority. Let me say first of all that Linda is no slouch when it
comes to recognizing malfeasance.
Uncle
Buster (7/23/02)
The kitties were not quite so
pleased about seeing Buster, not right off. I mean, consider he's a
hundred times their weight, and looks like a couch, in motion. But this
remarkable dog is very smart, too, as he knows how not to crowd the new
arrivals. He makes himself available, and tries to demonstrate that
despite his size, he's friendly.
The
More I Love Flying
(7/22/02)
This past weekend found me
driving instead of flying to the Bay Area. I had even reserved a plane,
but canceled the reservation and made it a road trip. One of the reasons
was that I needed to get around to various places, which meant I would
have to rent ground transportation if I flew. Another was that I would
have to pay for an extra three hours of plane rental if I stayed a full
second day, and that made it kinda pricey.
A
Dirty Job (7/19/02)
The Lovely Linda says there are
two reasons for men -- to lift heavy things and kill things like
insects, spiders, small rodents and venomous reptiles. My assignments --
they're just suggestions, of course -- are delivered as she is all
dressed up and ready to go to the office. Usually they involve working
in the garden, which as physical assignments go is certainly not the
worst. And the results are so delightfully apparent.
Unacceptable
Forecast (7/18/02)
There are enough challenges in
this world to have to think our planes, bridges, and apartment buildings
may be a target for lunatics. It's not right, it's not healthy, it's not
acceptable. What we need to shift this scenario is to elect leaders who
think differently from the crop of well-heeled, constantly-protected
neoliths who are running the country, and most of the rest of the world.
The
$100K Cap (7/17/02)
I propose that no public
official receive more than $100,000 a year, together with whatever
reasonable costs are associated with the work. What, screameth thou, we
won't be able to attract the top business people! Yeah, like we've been
taking the cream off the top all this time? Horsehockey.
Volume
by Volition (7/16/02)
But it's not okay, because being
hugely overweight is more than a personal issue. We aren't at a stage
where food is so scarce we have to mete out equal shares, but with the
burgeoning population and expanding waistlines, we may get there. And we
are already paying through our health insurance premiums.
Economic
Oops (7/15/02)
All of these situations could be
cleaned up, and it would be neither complicated nor time-consuming. But
there is no will for that way. Not until the American public wakes up to
the crimes of their electees and replaces them with honest
representatives will our country have a chance of regaining control of
our ship of state and sailing it out of these grossly-polluted and
troubled waters.
Son
of Sam (7/12/02)
Being the news junkie I still
am, and then still young, I got dressed and was out on the street flagging a
cab in a few minutes. With a $20 bill in his hand, the cabbie raced down
the East River Drive, depositing me at police HQ only minutes before the
police arrived with David Berkowitz. I watched them lead him into the
building through the front door, recording as many details as I could so
that I could at least file a radio report.
Two
Flippin' Hot (2) (7/11a/02)
It was hot enough here at Casa
Linda for me to think about turn the wall a/c up from its perpetually
low setting. That would have entailed climbing on my chair and the
bookcase, so instead I went into the house where the thermostat was set
at a warmish but cooler 86, and I read silently to Buster.
Three
Crimes (7/11/02)
They were 23-year-old twins, name of Joshua and Caleb. Those names are suggestive. In this case, indicative. Joshua is a Baptist pastor and does a separate -- but we presume equal -- thang for the Spanish audience at The Capital City Baptist Church, where his father pastorizes the honkies. Caleb just kinda helps out where he can. It gets worse.
Bits
& Pieces (7/10/02)
Said one juror, in a very
American way of viewing authority, "I got on my knees and prayed to
God to stop me if this is the wrong thing. I've never done anything like
this. Going against the FBI is a big deal. I wanted to be sure."
The jury found for the plaintiffs, claiming our trusted federal and
local police authorities had acted outrageously deceitful.
Consumerism
(7/09/02)
Wouldn't you think that a
company that puts shaving cream in cans could do so without leaving rust
rings around the bathroom? Or am I the only one who thinks he shouldn't
be required to dry the can of shaving cream before putting it down? None
of this is major, of course, but you have to wonder about the integrity
of a company when it can't sweat the small stuff before delivering it to
the consumer.
Declaring
Our Interdependence
(7/08/02)
It's an extraordinary document,
in both words and ideas. It recognizes that most people are willing to
put up with bad government longer than they should. That the people have
not only a right, but a duty, to throw off corrupted shackles and
establish a good government.
Capital
Corruption
(7/05/02)
Walters closed his piece with
"Unless something miraculous occurs in the economy, either Davis or
his successor and the Legislature would face another $9 billion to $10
billion problem -- at least -- next year, with many fewer options for
quick fixes. We don't tolerate such irresponsibility from Enron or
WorldCom. Why are we doing it here?"
Items
(7/04/02)
Swiss air traffic control looks
like the culprit in the disastrous mid-air collision seven miles above
Lake Constance in Southern Germany. Somehow the Swiss controller didn't
convey to the two pilots that there were heading for each other. Even
with only fifty seconds, there was plenty of time for the pilots to take
evasive action, if they'd been properly directed.
Straighten
Up, Tree
(7/03/02)
It was a small spike with a
sorta rounded end and a pointy one. You clubbed the spike into the
ground with the pointy end up and then yanked. The pointy end would
catch the earth and turn sideways, solidifying its position. How do you
get the thingy into the ground? With a DS 40 Drive Rod, a separate item
not sold with the thingy.
Bits
& Pieces
(7/02/02)
The shares of the Martha Stewart
media empire are also in free-fall, what with the revelations in the Wall
Street Journal that the investigation of her for possible insider
trading in Imclone stock is turning up additional nasty implications
that could possibly send the doyen of do-nicely to the pokey. Apparently
success in everything she did professionally wasn't enough for her;
enough would never be enough.
Surviving
the Bought Bush
(7/01/02)
It's not that George W. Bush is
a Republican or even a conservative that is the problem. The problem is
that he is not an honest man. He lacks substance; he demonstrates
remarkably little character. He serves himself up as little more than a
mouthpiece, a talking hood ornament, for the greedy, narrow-minded
business interests who got him where he is and programs him today.
Charlie McCarthy had more depth, and more purpose.
Sex,
Drugs 'n Sports (6/28/02)
In the program, students are
informed about teen pregnancy, disease, and how to prevent it. It
stresses abstinence, but also shows how to use a condom. The parents
said sex -- apparently even knowing about it -- was against their
religion and sued. The district caved when they should have upheld their
obligation to educate all children, despite the social and intellectual
incompetence of the parents.
I
Pledge Allegiance...
(6/27/02)
Most everyone misspelled the
A-word, but his point was less the spelling and more to illuminate our
tendency to recite the pledge without ever thinking about the words.
It's not that the words or the concept are complex, but most of us had
learned to recite it without ever thinking about its meaning.
Too
Flippin' Hot (6/26/02)
The fall can be decent and the
spring downright pleasant; but isn't that true almost everywhere? Then
along comes the summer, like clock-work you might say, and it would be
better to be elsewhere. With the mercury looking for 105 and it's still
June, this area with its hard rocky earth -- absent of rain for five
months or more -- is a taste to hell.
Bits
& Pieces (6/25/02)
Got an email about a band of
CEOnistas on the run. From Rooters, the report said, "Unwilling to
wait for their eventual indictments, the 10,000 remaining CEOs of public
U.S. companies made a break for it yesterday, heading for the Mexican
border, plundering towns and villages along the way, and writing the
entire rampage off as a marketing expense."
Snake-Bit
(6/24/02)
Back in 1927 or so in Mill
Valley, there was a major fire on Mount Tamalpais. People visiting the
mountain summit were evacuated by a tramway which road tracks down to
the valley. The fire drove the rattlesnakes out of the woods onto the
trackbed, so many in fact that the driver had to throw sand on the
tracks for traction so the brakes would work.
Items
(6/21/02)
While some old guard felt that
if-we-can-do-it-they-can and others viewed the sleepless schedules as
good tempering of the spirit, the fact is that a lotta errors were being
made due to lack of sleep that bordered on abuse. We're talking
heal-thyself-physicians, after all; people who are taught to think for
themselves, and not jarhead Marines who are just supposed to follow
orders.
Put
Riyadh on Notice (6/20/02)
Have I gone mad, endorsing the
eradication of huge numbers of marginally-complicit human beings?
Perhaps. But why not hold those responsible guilty? My right-wing pals
agreed with me. Which gives me pause. Maybe I've gone so far around the
bend that I've come out the other side. I'll wait to hear how my lefty
pals respond.
Little
Girl Lies
(6/19/02)
Don't believe everything you
read, including in this space, unless you're getting purely personal
reflections, and even then be suspicious. But certainly don't buy into
what you see on television or read in the paper or on the Net. And I'm
not just talkin' about stories coming from government or corporate
flacks.
Sad
Francisco
(6/18/02)
Rather than deal with these
people effectively, the stupes just sigh and smile haplessly and let
them do their thing. The result is that the quality of life in the city
degrades. The stench of urine on some streets is overwhelming. People
lie asleep or drunk or dead on the sidewalks. Others aggressively
approach passersby, demanding money, sometimes assaulting them.
The
Courting Life (6/17/02)
Not making it to court, a
36-year-old suspect in the murders of at least ten women hanged himself
in the St. Louis County jail, despite being on a suicide watch that
called for guards to check on him every 15 minutes. "We do
everything we can to prevent this kind of thing," said a jail
official, who probably didn't major in English, or in deep thinking.
Quartet
(6/14/02)
Congress screwed up, again,
passing the bill with as little attention as there was fervor. There are
likely many other errors in the bill, and they should be fixed if we're
not to have to free some terrorists on a technicality. At least The
Shoe-Bomber will still face life in prison if convicted on the other
eight charges against him.
Drums
Along the Bushwa
(6/13/02)
Every time the man opens his
mouth we get further proof that he probably doesn't register what he is
saying. Certainly he doesn't seem hamstrung by memory. Or maybe he
remembers changing positions time and time again, but his handlers tell
him it doesn't matter...because The American People will always stand
behind their commander-'n-chief in time of war.
Statistically
Sputtering (6/12/02)
The chief economist at Wells
Fargo said last month: "The economy is rebounding and we are likely
to see surprises on the upside rather than on the downside." This
is cheerleading, folks; propaganda to the troops -- you and me -- not to
worry. We should keep our money in the market -- nay, put more in -- if
only to do our small part for thewaronterrorism. It was only last year
that Kenneth Lay was telling his Enron employees that everything was
fine when it certainly wasn't.
Sealed
Without a Kiss (6/11/02)
With back-to-school and then the
Halloween seasons approaching, investors started dumping Hershey stock.
These are peak sales periods for chocolate producers, and Hershey was
operating at 20% below capacity due to a five-week strike at two plants.
So Hershey said enough's enough and restarted the two plants with
non-union labor. And even though the two sides figured out a
satisfactory contract a few days later, the collapse of negotiations
augurs ill for many companies, and their workers.
Items
(6/10/02)
Surely one can empathize with
all of the horrific experiences of their losses, but doesn't anyone
grieve privately anymore? I tend to think that people who live their
pain in public, and for years on end, are milking their victimhood. Like
the families of the Lockerbie bombing. Get on with your own lives or
don't, but sharing time is over.
Bits
& Pieces
(6/07/02)
Irony of ironies, the man was
not charged with the usual interfering with a flight crew because the
plane was not American, wasn't headed to our country, and we didn't have
such authority. However, he did have a packet of cocaine in his pocket,
and now faces 20 years. There was no explanation of why they kept
serving drinks to the 38-year-old passenger.
Degrees
of Ignorance (6/06/02)
High school students in Palm
Beach County -- Florida home of the notorious butterfly ballot -- can
pass a new history final exam by answering correctly only 23 of 100
multiple choice questions. Getting half right will earn an A and 39
right get a B. Presuming that there are four answers to choose from,
this means that simply answering every question with the same letter
would statistically give them an excellent chance of passing the test.
Fire
for Cause (6/05/02)
I certainly have faith in the majority of
firemen. Most are brave beyond imagination. They work hard, saving
lives, preventing greater damage, often with their lives on the line.
But there is a shadow to some of these people, and probably in numbers
larger than the general population, that cocks an eyebrow from time to
time.
Take
It All Off, Mommy (6/04/02)
The mother, who because of the
publicity was hired by a local radio station and had numerous other job
offers, said of the spread-spread, "Before all of this happened I
was extremely interested in posing. I have the utmost respect for the
entire company, and I believe posing for Playboy is the American
dream for a woman."
Governor
Buck$-aroo
(6/03/02)
The trouble is, he's been such a
disaster for the state of California, making myriad wrong decisions that
will be damaging for years -- even decades -- to come, but because he's
up against a remarkably worse candidate, he's likely to get re-elected
in November.
Bits
& Pieces
(5/31/02)
If there is a solution to the
insanity of the Kashmir, it is likely post-war. Pakistan's leader would
like to get rid of the Muslim radicals that make governing his country
so precarious, but he knows they would go after him if he went after
them. India knows this, so why they are pushing against Musharref so
arduously makes people think the gray-hairs of the land of Gandhi want
war.
Here
Come Duh Flood
(5/30/02)
My image, ala Indiana Jones,
is of an ancient sewer conduit filled with rats, racing past and
climbing over each other, trying to get ahead of the approaching wall of
water. Only in our case, we're talking about a polyglot parade of
self-interest groups who have commandeered the gravy train and are
heading for disaster.
Reapin'
'n Sowin'
(5/29/02)
The stuff that issues from the
spin doctors in Washington bears a striking resemblance to standard
television fare, and the concomitant hype. The most wonderfulest, heart-warmingest,
strugglingest god-blessed American people -- well, what more can we say.
Is it prime time or is it the White House? Who can tell anymore?
Items
(5/28/02)
Rather included himself in the
charge when he said newspeople were afraid to challenge the Bushies.
"It is an obscene comparison...but you know there was a time in
South Africa that people would put flaming tyres around people's necks
if they dissented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be
necklaced here, you will have a flaming tyre of lack of patriotism put
around your neck....I worry that patriotism run amok will trample the
very values that the country seeks to defend."
People
in the News (5/27/02)
Rita Wilson should have kept her
hands to herself. She also should have kept her mouth shut. On
administrative leave while schools administrators bowing to parent
pressure investigate the Rancho Bernardo High School Vice Principal, Ms.
Wilson broke her silence and spoke with a local television station.
"This was a safety issue," claims Wilson, who reportedly
lifted the skirts of young women to make sure that they weren't wearing
thong underwear to a school dance.
Bits
& Pieces (5/24/02)
Davis had a bunch of teachers
union leaders in his capitol office, and allegedly said outright,
"I need $1 million from you guys." Respondeth the chief union
thug said, head-shakingly out loud, "I want to know who's been
taking our money for years, saying they support our issues and then
voting against us. We need to hold these people accountable."
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